A Story of Family
by Falpex
Summary: 18 years after the end of the war, families are forced to take in muggle-born children rescued from remaining death eaters. Epilogue compliant. Begins about a year before the epilogue. Lots of new family members, friends and enemies!
1. A Knock in the Night

A loud knock echoed through the Potter household, waking all the occupants suddenly. Harry's hand flew to the old scar, as it always did when he was surprised. Ginny rolled over in bed, her honey eyes looking to Harry. He sat up, but before he could say anything, another knock sounded. Several screams and stifled shouts were heard.

Ginny jumped out of bed and flew down the hall. She turned right at the second door and threw it open. Inside the large bedroom, a group of girls were clutching at each other in front of the fireplace. Ginny did a quick count in her head. She could see the light brown hair of Susan Longbottom, with her own Lily hiding, clearly terrified, on Susan's lap. Next to them, Rose and Lucy Weasley were in the same position, looking for all the world like sisters with their identical flaming hair, though Ginny knew them to be cousins. She heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you girls alright?" she asked. She received several nods in answer. Rose spoke up.

"Umm… Aunt Ginny? What was that noise? It sounded like… like…" Rose fell silent, and glanced out the window. Ginny knew what she meant. It had been the same noise they had heard when, a year ago, an old tree had cracked and tumbled over. Several of the girls in the room, along with their brothers, had been in or below the tree at the time, and none of them were likely to forget it.

"I think it's someone at the door. Harry's gone to see to it." The girls nodded, relief evident on their faces. Lily picked herself up off of Susan's lap and ran over to her mother, tears rolling down her cheeks. Lily's black and white cat, Checker, had died in the tree accident. Ginny picked her up, stroking her red hair and speaking soothingly. "8 years old… Come on Lily, don't cry… You aren't even in a tree… there is no tree… Daddy's at the door now… Calm down…"

Lily sniffled and looked up at her mother. "Can we go check on Albus and the other boys?" Ginny nodded, and, immediately, Lily pushed out of her grasp and tore down the hall, Rose and Susan hot on her heels. Ginny looked down at the only girl remaining in the room. Lucy was sitting, looking very lost, and Ginny was struck at how much her niece resembled her daughter. They had been born only a day apart, and could have been identical twins. Ginny held out a hand. The girl looked at if for a second, as if confused, then crossed slowly over to her aunt, took her hand, and joined her in the hallway.

In the other bedroom, Ginny saw that the kids had paired off neatly with their siblings. Lily was engulfed in a hug from her brother Albus, who was murmuring soothing words to her under his breath. Rose looked to be squishing her brother Hugo she was holding him so tightly, and he was rubbing the back of his hand where, she knew, he still had a scar from the accident with the tree. Susan had one arm around her little brother Colin and the other around Lysander Scamander, whose shocking blonde hair stood out in a room of mostly redheads. Both boys were shaking.

At that moment, Ginny heard Harry call for her. She gently shook Lucy and headed back down the hall. Reaching the entrance hall she stopped, staring at the people in the doorway. Anthony Goldstein, Head Auror, and Ernie Macmillan, Minister of Magic. "What… I…" she took a deep breath, let it out, and addressed Anthony, whom she knew better than Ernie. "What are you _doing_ here? It is 3 in the morning, Anthony! There are children in this house!"

"_Ginny!_" Harry interrupted her. "Breathe." He nodded at Ernie to speak.

"Well, Ginny, um, you see. Well, you know those muggle-born kids, the ones that were stolen? They were found, and, we've got them, just, they havn't got anywhere to go and…"

"You are taking them in," pronounced Anthony with a grin. "They will be your own family. They'll take your last name, too, seeing as they havn't got one right now."

She thought of the 8 kids crammed into a single bedroom down the hall, and of Teddy Lupin sleeping in the basement, and fixed the Minister with a stare. "How many? We havn't got room!" Ernie gave her a confused stare. Harry cleared his throat.

"Minister, in addition to our three children, we have Teddy Lupin living with us and, for the next two days, Rose and Hugo Weasley, Molly and Lucy Weasley, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, and Susan and Colin Longbottom. It's a sleepover party for Lucy and Lily's birthdays," he added at the end of this litany. Anthony blinked.

"Doesn't matter," Ernie said. "I have four kids here, no, four _Potters_, who are coming in _now_, because they've nowhere else to go. Look, Harry," he suddenly dropped the professional manner. "You have to take these kids in, by law, and I have a lot more to drop off tonight. They're big enough to explain who they are themselves, so… goodnight." With that, he turned and opened the door.

Four kids walked in, heads down. The oldest, a girl, held a brown-haired toddler in her arms. Ginny could see that he had bright green eyes, like Harry's. The two remaining were boys of about the same height, one only about an inch taller than the other. The taller had brown hair, the shorter blonde like his sister's. Ginny looked at Anthony in disbelief; Ernie had already left.

At the doorway, Anthony looked back. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he said formally. "Meet Delia, Curtiss, Dion, and Geoffrey Potter." He swept out. When the four looked up, she saw that they all had the same shining emerald eyes.


	2. Meet the Siblings

The door clicked shut behind Anthony, and Harry turned to Ginny, a grin on his face. "No room?" he asked. "Ginny, we have nothing _but_ room! Even with all the extras."

She gave him an answering grin. "I was surprised…" she muttered defensively. Then she turned back to the children on her doormat. "Anyway, um…So." She glanced at Harry, then back to the new kids. "I'll go and get the rest of the kids and we'll all meet in the den." She turned from the awkward situation with relief.

Reentering Albus's bedroom, she saw for a split second that most of the kids were in the same spots she had left them in. Then chaos hit.

"What happened?"

"Who was at the door?"

"Is everything ok?"

"What's going on?"

"QUIET!" Ginny shouted. Silence reigned. "There is nothing wrong. Just something… new. And unexpected. But I won't tell you just what until everyone's together. Now go to the den, and just wait there, please." She saw that each brother/sister pair stayed close together. The kids were clearly still scared. "Lucy, Lysander, come with me. We have to find Molly and Lorcan."

Lucy clutched her hand tightly to Ginny's as they walked down the hall. Lysander spoke up, trotting along behind. "Do you think they're with James, Ginny? Do you? Doing almost-first-year stuff again?"

Ginny smiled. "Yes, Lysander, I do." Sure enough, when she opened the door to James's room, three 11 years olds spun around with guilty expressions. Allowing them to believe, for the moment, that they were in trouble, she merely said, "Go to the den. Sit with your siblings." The three scampered out, and she let Lucy and Lysander go with them.

Ginny made her way back to the main floor and then to the door leading to the basement. She was certain she knew exactly what she'd find downstairs: 13-year old Frank, eldest of the Longbottom children, gaping while Teddy Lupin, fresh from his last year at Hogwarts, regaled some astounding, completely false, feat of bravery. It was exactly as she had thought and she had just enough time to hear that the story involved four angry centaurs and a manticore before she sent them to the den with the others. Snorting, she followed down the hallway.

She stopped inside the doorway to the den, looking at the many children strewn about the couches and rugs, and listening to the many conversations. Albus was begging James to tell him what had gone on in his bedroom, pointing out that he, Albus, would be going to Hogwarts in another year, after all. Lily was being asked repeatedly how it felt to be 8 years old at last, seeing as it was after midnight, and thus officially her birthday. Teddy had taken up his storytelling again, and Hugo, Lorcan, Lysander, and Colin had joined Frank in listening avidly.

Harry entered and the room fell silent, but he did not bring the new Potters in. Instead, he walked to a spot in front of the fireplace where everyone could see him and cleared his throat. "During the war," he began, and with this introduction, the room tensed palpably. Teddy's head jerked, and he stared at Harry as avidly as Frank had just been staring at him. Harry continued. "During the war, the Death Eaters rounded up every muggle-born witch and wizard they could find, including their children. They were taken to Death Eater run camps, camps of cruelty and evil, where the muggle-borns, especially the kids, were treated very harshly. In the years after the war, the Order was able to find most of these camps, but one, that we knew of, remained hidden. That last camp has been found. There were kids at the camp. The Ministry has asked that wizarding families take in some of these kids as their own children. They have no parents, no last name, and no knowledge of a life without violence. All of your families will be receiving new additions within the week." He looked at the door he had come through, behind which, Ginny knew, the four children waited. "I'd like you all to meet the four newest members of the Potter family."

While the four trooped in, Ginny sneaked a glance at her own children. James's face held an expression of intense shock, and Lily was squeezing Rose's hand. When she looked to Albus, she found him looking directly back at her. She nodded, and he swallowed and looked back to the fireplace.

Harry nodded at the oldest girl, as though prompting her. She gave a tiny nod and looked up, about to speak. A gasp ran through the crowded room as they saw her bright green eyes. Glances and whispers flew. Harry cleared his throat and nodded again at the girl. She swallowed, shifted the toddler in her arms, and then spoke.

"My name is Delia. Delia Potter." She said this very defensively. "I'm 14 and my birthday is March 28. This," she indicated the baby, "is Geoffrey, he turned 2 on his birthday, March 24." She looked at the next oldest boy, as though expecting him to speak, but he shook his head, gave her a wild-eyed look, and she spoke for him. "The boy with the brown hair is Curtiss, he's 13, and the one with blonde hair is Dion, he's 9." This litany having been finished, she looked expectantly out at the room. There was an uncomfortably long silence. Delia glanced at Harry, silently asking for help, but he didn't know what to do either. Ginny decided to take charge. She stepped into the firelight.

"I'm Ginny, Delia, and." She stopped, unsure if this was the right thing to say, then plowed on. "I suppose I'm your mum now." The two boys' faces looked at her with a pleading expression. She gave them a small smile before continuing. "It's not usually this crowded at our house, but today is my daughter Lily's birthday. Lily."

Ginny gave her a hard look until she stood up, still holding tight to Rose's hand, and said softly, "I'm Lily, and I'm 8 today." She sat back down quickly.

Ginny gave a glare in the direction of her two boys, and they stood up, James acting as spokesperson for the both of them.

"I'm James, and this is Albus. I'm gonna be a first year in September, and he will be next September. I'm your brother now!" James ran to the front of the room and shook hands first with Dion, then with Curtiss, still talking rapidly. "She said your name was Curtiss, right? And you're gonna be in third year! I always wished I had an older brother, and now I do! Well," he amended hastily, with a glance at the back of the room," I had Teddy (Teddy Lupin, he's over there, he's my dad's godson, and he's lived with us forever), but he's too much older. You're only 2 years older than me! This is gonna be great!"

"James." Ginny spoke his name lightly, but he flushed and sat down nevertheless. Then she turned back to the front of the room. "I'm sure you are all tired, but I hope you don't mind sleeping bags, because with all these people that's all there's really room for. Delia, you can join all the girls in Lily's room, and go ahead and take Geoffrey with you, because we haven't got a crib and I don't think I trust my boys with a baby. Just make him up a bed of blankets on the floor right next to you."

"Come on, we'll show you where it is," said Susan, and all the girls filed out of the room. Both Hugo and Colin were looking like they very much wanted to run out of the room as well, and Curtiss and Dion, she saw, were looking just as scared with their sister gone.

"Dion." The little boy's head swung around to stare at her, his eyes huge. She smiled at him. "You're lucky it's Lily's birthday, because we have two boys over that are just your same age. This is Colin Longbottom, and this is Lysander Scamander. Boys, can you show Dion to Al's room?" Lysander and Colin looked at each other, then looked to Albus. He motioned them forward, and Lysander took Dion's hand and led him out of the room. Albus mumbled something to Hugo, and they left, with Colin following behind.

At this point Curtiss's fear-filled eyes took up his entire face, and Ginny reflected that she probably shouldn't have left him for last. Before she could speak, however, he seemed to come to a drastic decision of his own. "I can sleep anywhere!" he shouted. "Wherever there's room, really, I…" he trailed off. Ginny shook her head sympathetically, but firmly.

"No, Curtiss, not anywhere. You will sleep with these older three in James's room. You're the same age as Frank here, and Lorcan and James are two years younger than you." 

James led the four out of the room, followed by Teddy, who went to his own basement bedroom by himself.

Ginny felt Harry's arms snake around her waist, and his head on her shoulder, whispering in her ear. "You were great, Gin. You're a great mum with your own kids, and you'll be great with these ones. I know it. We'll make it work.


	3. More Surprises

Harry pulled back and, taking Ginny's hand, led her out of the den and into the hallway, towards their bedroom. She paused at the door to Albus's room, but Harry led her on. "Leave them be, Ginny. They need get used to all this, and it will already be hard on them, with everything new going on. And with having so many people here, well, I just think it's better if you aren't as clingy with the children for a while."

Ginny bristled up at once. "I am _not_ clingy!" When Harry didn't reply, she sat down on the bed with a sigh. "All right, I see what you mean. We don't want to overwhelm them." Harry nodded; glad she wasn't angry or defensive. "But," she continued, fixing him with a glare, which she lightened immediately with a smile. "I think you're wrong about one thing. I think it's good that everyone's over right now. That's how we live, loud and open, with lots of friends all around. They'll have to get used to it sooner or later. And sooner is much preferable to later. Also, I think it will help get them out of their shell; with so many other people around, how could they hide? And Fred and Bill and their families, and the rest of the Longbottoms, are joining us tomorrow; _today_," she amended ruefully, with a glance at the clock. "We should turn in, Harry, we both have to be up early."

"No!" He spoke so strongly that Ginny stared openly. He amended his tone. "No Ginny, we can't sleep yet. I've got to talk to you about something." An odd tone in his voice made her look at him concernedly. She sifted on the bed. Harry was still standing.

"What is it Harry?" He looked away, his hand rubbing absentmindedly over the old scar, tracing and retracing it with his fingers. "Harry! What's happened? Sit down." He looked at her for what seemed a very long time, then sat, burying his head in his hands. She reached over, and began rubbing relaxing circles on his back. A long minute dragged by. Finally Harry looked up and met her questioning gaze.

"There was a reason Ernie and Anthony didn't want to stick around for too long. They both have a lot to do. Ginny, I'm sure you've realized what everyone else will soon get. We thought all the Death Eaters had been rounded up, but these kids came from a _Death Eater _camp. And the aurors didn't capture a single one while they were getting all the kids out. I'm not sure they even _did_ get all the kids out. The Ministry's got to cover that up somehow, or people will panic. And," he looked suddenly apprehensive, dropping his voice and casting a look at the closed door. "The dementors have started leaving Azkaban again." He stopped at her shocked expression, and tried to backtrack a bit. "Well, they haven't _left_ really, more of… stopped guarding. They've definitely left Ministry control. Again. They aren't letting anyone onto the island to check on the prisoners, and a flyby showed that several of the cells were open… with people walking around outside… I don't think any have left the island yet, but you can be sure it won't be long. You can imagine the work Anthony and Ernie are going to have; they've got to figure out what to do."

"Well so have we! Harry, we can't just… You aren't going to… In July! We have to meet with everyone. July's one of our big celebration months, right with December, there are so many birthdays."

"We've got to meet them all anyway, Gin," Harry cut her off, rather harshly. "They want us to go under the Fidelius Charm."

"Oh, Harry." She embraced him tenderly, knowing what that charm meant to him: the death of Siruis… and his parents. They stayed that way awhile, but Ginny knew she had to break the silence. "We should, you know," she spoke gently. He tensed anyway, but she just squeezed him tighter and kept talking. "Harry, we haven't got a choice. If there are Death Eaters free, they'll come here, they'll try and get our family. You know they will. Harry, you know we have to do this."

He was shaking his head. "I could take you away. You, and the kids, and, the whole family! We could go to Egypt, Bill would like that, or France! What about Romania? Charlie lived there awhile-"

"Charlie!" Ginny gasped.

"What?" Harry asked. "What about him, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, but, Charlie! It's the perfect answer! Harry, _Charlie_ can be Secret Keeper!" Ginny's face was elated, she'd found the perfect solution. Harry couldn't quite manage to match her enthusiasm. In fact, he looked confused.

"Charlie, Secret Keeper? But, Gin, weren't you listening? We don't have to do it! There's no reason to even do the spell, we can just _leave_."

"Oh Harry!" she scoffed. "Wake up! We _can't _leave. First off, there are nine of us now, and it's quite difficult to move that many people around without anyone noticing. Secondly,"

But Harry cut her off. "Nine?" he asked, dazedly. "Nine, but… oh!" Understanding lit his pale face. "We won't take them Ginny they're strangers, don't worry about them-"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! _Those children are family!_ They have been through a lot and I will not have you putting them through more! Besides," she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, telling herself Harry didn't really mean that, he was only nervous over that spell. "We aren't leaving. I won't put my kids through that kind of-"

"Put them through – put your kids - Ginny! That charm is cursed! Cursed! And you want to-"

"No Harry! NO. That is _enough_. You are an adult. Harry you're almost 35 years old and you are putting our family in danger by not acting like it. Now _listen to me_." She paused to see if he would interrupt. He didn't. "Good," she said. "You are going to go to Ron and Hermione's and calm yourself down. Tell them what you've told me, but nothing else. I'm going to go talk to Charlie. I'll meet you at Ron's in an hour." She strode to the door, leaving no chance for him to argue more. Being Harry, he did anyway.

"Why Charlie?" She winced at the deadness in his voice. She hadn't meant to hurt him.

"Because he's the only choice. I've got to go Harry, I'll explain it when I see you in an hour." Once again, her tone brooked no interruptions, and, once again, Harry had something to say.

"Who'll watch the kids while we're both gone?"

She stopped, horrified that she could have forgotten something so important. "Teddy. Come on."

Together they went to the basement bedroom. Teddy was still up writing in his diary, his hair a coal black with angry red and yellow steaks. He looked up at them, surprised, but before he could open his mouth Ginny spoke. "We have to go out, Teddy. Now. I'll tell you what's going on when we get back but could you sit in our room for now? In case one of the kids needs anything."

He blinked once, taking in the odd request. Then he nodded fervently, assured them he would, and set about putting his diary away. Ginny dragged Harry upstairs to the fireplace, thrust some floo powder into his hand, and pushed him inside. "The Canary's Nest!" He was gone.

He had spoken clearly, and Ginny was reminded of the first time he had ever used floo powder. She bit her lip, angry at herself for losing her temper like that. But she had done what had to be done, and with a pinch of floo powder and a shout of "The Juggling Ghost!" she was whirled away.


	4. Babysitting

Teddy busied himself with corking inkbottles, rolling up pieces of parchment, and putting locking charms on his diary so that Ginny and Harry wouldn't see how shocked he was. As soon as the door slammed shut behind Harry, he froze, listening hard. He could hear their footsteps, a shout he couldn't make out, and then the whoosh of floo powder working. He listened more intently hoping, this time, to hear where it was they were going. The silence stretched, and Teddy wondered suddenly if only one was going after all. But just when he thought this, he heard Ginny's voice, clear and confident, and easily carrying to his basement bedroom, shout, "The Juggling Ghost!"

Teddy gathered up his writing materials, and made his way to Harry and Ginny's room, thinking hard. He had heard enough stories of his parents from Harry to know what traits he had gotten from each of them. The obvious answer from his mum was his metamorphmagus abilities. He was also, he had learned in his first few years of life, quite clumsy, though not as much as she had been. Most people thought he had grown out of this as he grew older, but this was not so. Instead, he had developed a careful, deliberate way of walking, his way of making sure he didn't fall or trip over something. He also had his mum's intense love of adventure. He'd heard that his dad had that too, but was more reserved. Teddy wasn't reserved at all. He would rush (aka walk carefully) into any opportunity that presented itself. However, Teddy did have his dad's love of writing and reading, and he'd kept a diary almost as long as he could remember.

Sitting on the bed, he opened up his diary and finished his latest entry.

_14 July 2016_

_It is now very late, and therefore after midnight and __therefore_ _Lily's birthday! She is 8 years old. And I'm 18…Blimey I'm old! Out of Hogwarts! James, Molly, and Lorcan keep shutting themselves up to discuss their first year._

_Something odd's happened. The Ministry found a Death Eater camp for muggle-borns, and they saved a bunch of kids. Every family's taking some in, because they havn't got last names or anything. The Minister brought four to our house tonight, that's why I'm still up. They are: _

_Delia, 14_

_Curtiss, 13_

_Dion, 9_

_Geoffrey, 2_

_The girl and the baby are sleeping in Lily's room, the older boy with James and the younger with Al. I hope they fit in but they seemed __very__ scared. And a bit standoffish._

_Harry and Ginny just came down to my room, said they were going out, and asked me to baby-sit! Then I heard them floo to the pub outside Charlie's flat. Harry hasn't gone out this late since he switched to the Auror reserve. And Ginny never has. And they have __never, ever__ let me baby-sit. They always get another adult to do it, Hermione or Hannah, usually. And why they would go to Charlie's, I can't fathom._

_Also, I got a letter from Victoire. She said she missed me! But I get to see her tomorrow at the party. She said she'd save me a dance! If there is a dance this year. There might not be, with everything going on. But I think I'm going to give her a dance anyway, even if there isn't an official one._

Teddy smiled as he closed the little blue book, and locked it in the special way Bill had taught him, thanking his stars he'd taken arithmancy. No one but him could open it easily, unless he or she was a curse breaker, and even then it would take at least an hour.

He lay back on the bed, thinking happily of tomorrow and seeing Victoire. With these happy thoughts, he had soon drifted off to sleep, all responsibility and mystery forgotten.

He was woken an hour and twenty minutes later by a frantic beeping coming from the side table. He jumped out of bed, his head spinning. Where was he? Why wasn't he in his room? What was he doing in… Harry and Ginny's room!? And what was that infernal beeping?

Beeping! Teddy spun to face the Dark Detector on the bedside table. It was an advanced form of the sneakoscope, and the beeping meant something was wrong with the house, or one of the kids! Snatching his wand he dashed out of the room, tripping as he crossed the doorway and landing sprawled in the hallway. He got to his feet slowly, holding his breath, cursing his clumsiness. If this didn't teach him to slow down, nothing would. He slowly edged around the corner peering into the hallway. Then he crept into the hall, into the kitchen. The window had been shattered, and a blood red envelope was sitting on the table, smoking furiously at the corners. Before Teddy could grab it, the envelope burst into flame. A voice, loud and drawling, shouted one word through the house again and again, from many rooms.

"_MURDER!"_

In the three bedrooms in the hall, girls screamed and boys shouted. In the kitchen, Teddy sank into a chair, shaking. In the den, the fireplace flared green


	5. In The Girls Room

From the second she had entered the house, Delia had been noting everything about it, including its occupants. She did this almost without thinking; it was second nature after spending her whole life at Dikale, the camp. She knew the name stemmed from some ancient word, but wasn't sure what it meant. For her it was force of habit to note everything about her surroundings, because she could never know when she might need to know something about them. She ran through what she had already noticed in her head, to be sure she remembered it all.

The house was two stories tall, but she knew there was a basement, and most likely an attic, as well. There were three sets of windows on the top floor, corresponding, she had guessed, to the three bedrooms on that side of the house. She couldn't tell very well in the dark, but it looked like it was a deep brown color. The lawn was mostly well-kept, except for a patch that ran around the side, which had plants of all sizes swaying and flapping their leaves on the windless night.

The den where she had first been led to had a deep red carpet, a brick fireplace she could have walked into easily, and numerous red sofas and armchairs, all with gold pillows. Pictures above the fireplace showed most of the people she saw in the room and others who could be thier parents and siblings at different ages, moving around and smiling at different locations: a sunny beach, a wedding or anniversary party, in front of a scarlet train.

The room the other girls had brought her to (Lily's room, she thought. That's the one with red hair… correction, the smaller one with red hair... correction, one of the smaller ones...) had a deep blue carpet with slashes and dots of green running through it randomly. Or it seemed random, but, at the same time, ordered, as if whoever had put them there new the pattern. The bed and curtains had the same design, but with red stripes and symbols instead of green. The bookshelves, dresser, and desk were painted midnight black and covered with books, quills, crumpled pieces of parchment and sweet wrappers. There were red and gold sleeping bags strewn everywhere over the floor, Geoffrey wrapped in one nearby, sleeping soundly.

The other girls were mainly ignoring her now, and were sitting in a circle a few feet away. They had tried talking to her at first, but she'd said she was tired and busied herself with Geoffrey until they turned away. Now she looked at them, trying to learn all the faces.

There were five girls in the circle: one with brown hair and four with red. The one with brown was the one who had first spoken to her in the den, and led her to this room; she acted like the oldest, but one of the red-haired girls looked older. The two smaller red-heads looked like twins, but Delia knew they couldn't be because one was Lily, whose birthday it was today, and they would have said if it was the other girl's birthday too. The last girl had prominent buck teeth, many freckles, and hazel-colored eyes.

She tuned back into their conversation for a second. The girl with buck-teeth was talking to the girl who looked like the oldest, an angry look on her face.

"Just because you're going to Hogwarts next year and Susan and I aren't doesn't mean you should stop talking to us. You and Lorcan have been hiding out in James's room all summer, and you never tell us what you do in there. Roxanne didn't do that last year, and Frank didn't the year before that."

The older girl looked offended and embarrassed. "That's only because no one else was going at the same time as them! It isn't my fault I'm older than you, Rose, you can't blame me for that because I had nothing to do with it! If you were switched with me you'd be spending all your time with James too, I know you would! _You _know you would."

One of the twin-looking girls chimed in. "Yeah, Rose, I think she's right. Don't look at me like that! It's my birthday, you have to listen to me! Next summer, I bet anything you and Al (and you too Susan) are gonna do the same thing! And Lucy and I'll do the same thing before we go, two summers after you."

Now the other "twin" turned angrily to face her double. "I will not! Just because I'm going to be going to Hogwarts, I won't stop hanging out with everyone!" She stopped, and her face furrowed into a thoughtful frown. When she spoke again, it was in a hushed, horrified voice. "Would I? I might! Oh no, oh no, I'm sorry, Rose, I think I would!"

The oldest girl, with a triumphant air on her face, grinned. "So that's three of us who think everyone does it (Lily, Lucy and I), and one who thinks I'm being rude (Rose). Even if Susan votes with Rose, I still win because it's three to a possible two. But what do you think, Susan?"

Before the girl with the brown hair could reply, Delia broke into the argument. "What's that?" The girls turned to glare at her, annoyed at the interruption. Delia pointed at a red envelope that had flown in through the open window. It was now lying on the floor, smoking innocently. _Smoking?_

Rose shrieked, "Howler!" just as the envelope burst into flame and Delia's wild magic kicked in. A silvery-blue force field shot out from where she sat, soon surrounding all 6 girls. The Howler was swept into a corner. Even through the surprised squeals of Molly and Lucy, the single word could be heard, coming from the corner and every other room:

_MURDER!_

Delia cowered on the floor, shaking. She had done what she knew was called "inherited stolen magic." She had sucked the magic from the other people in the room, and now she would be punished. It was something she'd inherited from her parents, an ability she didn't understand how to control, but which happened when she was scared or upset. And then she would become more scared and upset, and in pain. Muggle-borns weren't allowed to use magic, of any kind, in Dikale.

But, she thought, she was in a safe place now. That's what the man (Harry, her mind corrected) had told her before they met everyone. She was safe.

But she couldn't help wondering what "safe" even meant.


	6. Boys Will Be Boys

Lysander scrabbled around in a panic, frantic to escape his sleeping bag. Someone stepped on his leg. He yelled out in pain, and the others, thinking he had seen or heard something, yelled in response. He extricated himself from the sleeping bag, and stood up, swiveling his head in all directions.

There wasn't much to see. The new boy, Dion, was sitting up and looking around at them all as if this were a game. Colin had a wide-eyed, terrified look and was sitting in the corner, his arms wrapped around his knees. Albus had Hugo in a headlock, trying to stop him from running out to see what had happened. The remains of the Howler were lying on top of …

He gasped in horror. "James's book! Al! Albus!" Neither Hugo nor Albus looked his way. Colin hadn't blinked. Dion was still looking at everything with too much fascination. "Hugo! Stop it!" He picked up a pillow and chucked it at the struggling pair. They looked up, frozen comically mid-wrestling match.

Hugo started speaking immediately. "He won't let me go. Make him let me go Lysander. It isn't fair, make him let go."

"Be quiet, Hugo." Lysander interrupted. He walked over to James's brand-new History of Magic textbook. It was now covered in soot marks, and parts had been badly burnt. Him, Al, and Colin had been looking at the page on the first house elf before bed. There was a large green stain, probably from the ink that had been in the Howler, covering the picture of Dandy. It now looked as though he were wearing a bright green, very badly knitted, blanket. He held up the book. Colin paled considerably. The spine fell off with a thump, and Hugo swore.

Just at that moment, Teddy threw the door open, wand raised.

Everyone jumped: Albus dropped Hugo, who swore again; Dion jumped to his feet, looking excited; Colin dove under the blankets, and Lysander dropped the book. A chunk of the cover broke off before he snatched it up again.

Teddy's face was just as pale as Colin's, his hair a light brown. Nevertheless, his voice was just as strong as ever. "What was that you just said, Hugo Weasley?" he demanded.

Hugo blanched and looked at the floor. After a moment of silence, when it became clear that no one was going to rescue him, he mumbled something, and Teddy gave a nod. "That's what I thought you said. Where did a 7 year old hear a word like that?"

Hugo's head jerked up, but it wasn't the look of misery Lysander had been expecting; his face was alight with the feverish grin of troublemaking he often saw on Uncle George. The reason behind this became clear as soon as Hugo spoke.

"Dad."

Teddy lasted five lip-twitching seconds before succumbing to howls of laughter. These were so loud that the other boys came tearing down the hall, holding their brand new wands ready to cast imaginary spells. James crashed head-first into Teddy, and they both went skidding over the floor, rolling and cursing much worse than Hugo had.

In this time Lorcan and Frank had appeared at the door, and they both made bee-lines for their brothers. Frank bent over Colin, shaking him out of his blankets. Lorcan came up to Lysander, frowning deeply.

"What's that you're holding Ly?" Lysander jumped and looked at the book guiltily. Before he could explain, there was a loud ripping noise and about half the pages fell out, fluttering all over the room. James reached for one and started mouthing the words. Albus glanced at Lysander nerously and they started backing up. Standing next to the fireplace, he saw understanding hit James's face and squeezed Al's hand.

"What is this doing in your room, Al?" James asked softly, letting the paper drop. Teddy picked it up and looked at it, amusement evident on his face.

"Um, er…," Albus stuttered. "We, um, didn't think you'd miss that one James. Seeing as it's History of Magic. We thought-"

But they wouldn't find out what Albus had thought, because, at that moment, James pelted across the room toward them. Lysander grabbed Colin (James would figure out he'd helped eventually), and the three of them dashed across the room. James blocked the door, so they split: Albus and Colin going one way, Lysander the other. He vaulted over Teddy, who was now rolling on the ground laughing, and jumped on top of Al's desk. James had chased the other two, and, as long as he stayed out of the way, James wouldn't notice him here and he could just watch.

Unfortunately, Colin copied him, and James was after all of them again. Lysander pushed Colin off the desk and out of the room. He could hear Albus behind them, James shouting oaths, Teddy laughing, Hugo cheering James on. Colin pulled him downstairs and they watched James and Al go tearing by. They jumped back up and ran the other way, thinking to go into the girls room to hide.

They threw the door open, and had a split-second view of something blue and silvery, before they fell to the ground, heads ringing. The blue something flickered and vanished, and Lily appeared in its place.

"What are you doing on the floor?" she asked.

"Just move, Lily, hide us, please?" Colin begged.

She looked amused. "Hide you? From who?"

"James!" Lysander shouted.

She opened the door and giggled. "Only if you tell us what you did."

They dashed to the fireplace, grabbed sleeping bags, and started building a fort. Lysander began the tale. "We wanted to look at a textbook. So we borrowed James's History of Magic one-"

"We thought he didn't like that one!" Colin added.

"Right. And we were only reading it, and then we went to bed. But when the Howler came, it landed right on the book, and it's…" He trailed off. Rose looked horrified.

"You destroyed his _brand-new_ school book!" She shrieked at them. Then she walked slyly over to the door. Lysander realized, a second too late, what she was going to do.

"Rose, no, don't!" he shouted.

She threw the door open and called out. "James! Come see who I found!"

Lysander and Colin abandoned their fort and dashed for the door, pushing Rose aside. They went back down the stairs, sprinted through the kitchen and landed on their backs again. Someone had opened the door just as they were reaching for it, causing them to run into it.

Lysander groaned and opened his eyes. A tall woman was looking at him, her white blonde hair in her face. "Mum!" he gasped. "Mum! What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming till later, is it morning already?" He looked around wildly, and Luna, laughing, put a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Lysander, it is not morning. But I need to speak with Harry and Ginny."

"They aren't here." Teddy had appeared in the room, looking grim and clutching his wand again. "What's happened?"

"Not here? But… well, then we must do it ourselves. She looked at Lysander, and spoke in a bitter tone he had never heard before. "Go get your things boys, the house is going to be evacuated."

Her voice was so harsh, so unlike the mum he knew, that he went without a word of complaint, Colin at his side.


End file.
